Please make use of this, it's all for you guys and admins are the only non Australian people that can see it.

Will

12-07-05, 15:07

Hi Robert,

Unfortunately we are still in the dark ages in Oz....we still dont have a proper national competition, and the state run competitions are divided into many echelons, some of which overlap....every state runs their competitions as they see fit, taking into account the geography and the player base.

When we won the world cup in 1999 people still could not understand we only had 3 states, and the players from those states when they were not playing for their state they were playing for a city run club! It is a big jump!

Robert Burns

13-07-05, 12:07

So is there any league system at all? or is it all just state based?

How do teams qualify for the S12?

SimonSmith

13-07-05, 13:07

As I understand it, as a non-Aussie, teams don't qualify for the S14.
The teams are allocated on a franchise system, with two new teams added for the next year.

Will

13-07-05, 14:07

yes, that is right...there were only 2 recognised states playing rugby in Australia...the players were always picked straight from their teams in the league of the capital cities (Brisbane in Qld and Sydney for NSW)....then the ACT came into the equation....again, most players are fed to them from the Canberra local competition...

In years gone past, if a touring country came to australia they would play NSW and Qld before the tests and that was that....then the Super 6 started and eventually the Super 8 and Super 10, then Super 12 and next year the Super 14...

Always dominated in numbers by counties from NZ and the 2 states of Australia until the ACT Brumbies came into the equation....but it is so precarious that if a key player and his usual replacement get injured, then you have to pluck a player from a city league to play with the best in the world....a huge jump, but there is no national league to bridge the gap....I still find it amazing that we won one, let alone 2 world cups...we basically played those cups with every possible player available...there was hardly anyone left in reserve!

Robert Burns

13-07-05, 14:07

Thats quite interesting?

Would there be a market for a National League system in Australia, or is the country just that vast that it would not make commercial sense?

robertti

14-07-05, 06:07

Will,

What you say is very true, and without boasting 'Ill do it in the Aussie forum where only we can see it;)', that is why Australia is one of the remarkable stories of Rugby Union in the world. Our player base is tiny compared to nations like NZ, SA, England and we don't have our own National Competition, and yet we have won 2 world cups and really deserved to have won a third. In terms of a national competition yes we probably are still in the dark ages but steps have been taken in recent years such as the Telstra Australian Rugby Shield. Remember, to run a national rugby competition in Australia would need lots of money to fly teams across an entire continent to play just one game! As well, Australia has 3 other professional winter codes competiting with Rugby Union - AFL, Rugby League and Soccer; aparently the only country in the world with 4 professional winter sporting competitions.